Heating apparatus



Dec. 18, 1962 R. s. WATERS 3,069,525

HEATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 3l, 1961 23 I 6 59 'n 2| 28 l 38 j? ,7.

|152 I v W F|G.|. 4 I 5 E All I' v D l Il lll .Il 'Z8 LQ "'11: '4 I 1| |ll Ii [Il T4' INVENTOR ROBERT S. WATERS SWT .M

ATToRN'EY United States Patent Gtice 3,059,525 Patented Dec. 18, 1962 3,069,525 HEATING APPARATUS Robert S. Waters, Lexington, Ohio, assigner to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 31, 1961, Ser. No. 86,178 3 Claims. (Cl. 219-34) This invention relates`to heaters, for example, room or space heaters of the electrical type, and has for an object to reduce the manufacturing costs of such heaters.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the appearance of such heaters, particularly with respect to the ceramic mounting members utilized for supporting the usual electrical resistance heating elements.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a non-electrically conductive mounting member for supporting the electrical resistance heating element of a room heater, which member also functions to support an electrical resistance element which serves, when in circuit with the heating element, to reduce the heating effect of the heating element.

The foregoing and other objects are effected by the inf vention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view of a room heater incorporating the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view, taken along the line II-II of FIG. l, looking in the directing indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG.- 2, looking-in the direction indicated by the arrows; y FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pair of mounting members constructed in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line V-V of FIG. 3, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring to the drawing in greater detail, there is shown a space or room heater comprising a base 11 on which is supported a casing 12 housing a rellector 13 in which is mounted an electrical resistance heating element 14.

The base 11, in the construction herein illustrated, is rectangular in shape and has open ends 16 covered by decorative mesh or similar material 17, the open ends 16 providing for entry of air into the interior of the base for eventual discharge therefrom in a vertical direction to the interior of the casing 12 via aligned openings 18 (FIG. 2) in the top wall of the base and the bottom wall of the casing.

The casing 12 includes a rear wall 20, a top wall 21, a bottom wall 22 and side walls 23. The casing is open at the front, as at 24 (FIG. 3), and this open front is preferably protected by a decorative mesh or wire screen 25 or the like.

Housed within the casing 12 is the reflector 13 which has a rear wall 27 and four sides walls 28. While the side walls are illustrated as arranged in a rectangle, it -should be pointed out that there may be a greater number of sides providing a hexagon or octagon, or an infinite number of sides providing a circular side wall construction, or any other suitable shape of reflector side wall construction. As best shown in FIG. 2, the vertical side walls 28 have lower extensions 29 projecting downwardly below the horizontal side walls 28 to provide, in effect, feet which support the rellector in spaced relation to the bottom wall 22 of the casing.

A bracket 31 (FIG. 2) is secured inwardly of the casing rear wall 20 and serves as a support to which the rear wall 27 of the reilector may be attached by suitable means. The bracket 31 provides a recess 32 at the rear of the heater casing and near the top thereof for reception of the lingers of a person desiring to lift and transport the heater.

It will be noted that the rellector side wall extensions 29, which rest upon the casing bottom wall 22, and the bracket 31 serve to position the reflector in spaced relation to the surrounding casing walls. Consequently, air entering the base 11 from the open end walls of the latter passes upwardly through the openings 18 in the base top and casing bottom walls and llows past all side walls of the reflector 13 to pick up heat therefrom and to discharge forwardly through the open front 24 of the casing. This ow of air between the reflector and the casing not only serves as a heating means for the air but also as a cooling means for the casing, thereby preventing the latter from becoming too warm to be touched safely. The spaces between the vertical side walls 28 of the rellector and the side walls of the casing are indicated by the reference character 33, and the similar spaces between' the transverse side walls 28 of the reflector and the corresponding walls of the casing are indicated by the reference character 34.

The top and bottom side walls 28 of the reflector are provided with opposed transversely extending rows of openings 36 disposed in spaced parallel relationship to the rear wall 27 of the reflector. A plurality of mount? ing bars 37 and 38 are disposed end to end in overlying relation to the opening 36. These bars are preferably made of ceramic material or of other nonelectrical con, ducting material to provide electrical insulation for 'a purpose to be hereinafter noted.

Each mounting bar is provided with at least two cylindrical projections 39 on the face thereof whichV engages the corresponding `wall of the rellector, these projections being of such size that they are closely received in associated openings 36, with the result that they serve to prevent displacement of the mounting bars in a plane parallel to the planes of the reflector side walls with which they cooperate. Each bar 37 and 38 is provided with a P111- rality of openings or passages 4t) therethrough, in which are disposed supporting wires or members 41, preferably of resilient metal, one end of each support 41 being fixed within the mounting member 37 or 38 against movement in a direction to-ward the interior of the reflector. The free ends of the supports 41 project into the space within the rellector 13 and terminate in hook-like portions 42. An electrical resistance heating element, herein illustrated as of ribbon form, is supported by these hook-like portions 42, being woven back and forth between the hooks of first one row and then the other row of supports 41. Preferably, these supporting wires 41, being resilient, are deflected when the ribbon is wound or placed therein, with the result that, when the ribbon expands due to heating thereof, the resilience of the supports 41 will result in movement of the hook-like free ends of the supports sufficiently to take up any slack which would otherwise be produced in the heating element as a result of expansion thereof under temperature rise.

As clearly shown in FIGS. l and 2, the ceramic mounting bars 37 and 38, and the projections 39, serve to space the supports 41 from the metal of the reflector side walls. It should be further noted that the projections 39 are only of sufllcient length to extend slightly through the associated openings in the rellector side walls, with the result that very little of these ceramic members extend into the interior of the reilector where they can be seen from the front of the heater. Accordingly, there is provided a very pleasing appearance as compared with prior heaters of this type where a major portion of the supports for the heating element or ribbon extended a considerable distance into the interior of the reflector.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the mounting bars 37 and 38 are provided, on the face thereof opposite to the face which engages the reflector side walls, with a longitudinally extending groove or recess 4S in which is disposed an electrical resistance element 46. his element is arranged to be placed in series with the heating element 14 for a heat setting less than high, thereby reducing the heating ellect of the main heating element 14, As best shown in FIG. 2, both the upper and lower rows of mounting bars 37 and 38 are provided with this groove and each row supports and-houses a resistance element 46, one of these being placed in series with the main heating element 14 for medium heat setting, and both being in series -with the main heating element for low setting.

Inasmuch as the wiring arrangement for a heater of this type having low, medium and high positions of heat control is conventional and well known in the art, no further description thereof is deemed necessary.

While the invention has been shown in but one form, it ywill be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a space heater, a reflector having rear and side walls and being open at the front, a casing housing said rellector and spaced from the side walls thereof, two opposed side walls of said reflector each having a series of aligned openings therethrough in parallel spaced relation to the reflector rear wall, a plurality of mounting bars of electrically insulating material disposed against said opposed side walls in longitudinal alignment and in overlying relation to each series of openings, said bars being located in the space between the rellector and the casing and having one or more projections disposed in openings of said series of openings, a plurality of supports carried by said bars and projecting through said openings into the interior of the rellector, a resistance heating element looped back and forth between, and supported by, the projecting ends of said supports, the sides of said bars remote from the sides thereof which engage the reflector side walls having longitudinally-extending grooves therein, and a resistance element positioned in said grooves.

2. In a space heater, a rellector having rear and side walls and being open at the front, a casing disposed in spaced surrounding relation to the rellector, two opposed side walls of the reflector each having a row of openings therethrough in spaced relation to the reflector rear Wall, a series of longitudinally-aligned mounting bars of electrically insulating material disposed in `the space between the reflector and the casing in overlying relation to each row of openings, each of said mounting bars having at least two projections disposed `in openings of said rows of openings, a plurality of resilient supports carried by said bars with free terminal portions of hook-like conllguration disposed within the reflector, a resistance heating element looped alternately over the support hook-like terminals of the two rows, the bars of one of said series of longitudinally-aligned mounting bars having longitudinally-aligned grooves in a surface thereof, and an electrical resistance element disposed in said longitudinallyaligned grooves.

3. in a room heater, a reflector having rear and side walls, a casing housing the rellector and having rear and side walls spaced from the corresponding walls of the reflector, two opposed side walls of the reflector each having a row of longitudinally-aligned openings therethrough, one or more mounting bars of electrically insulating maaerial disposed in the space between the casing and the rellector in overlying relation to each row of openings, each mounting bar having at least one projection extending through one of said openings, the extent to which said projections extend into the rellector being only sufficient to limit movement of said mounting bars in the planes of the reflector side walls with which they are associated, those of said bars which are associated with one of said rows of openings having a groove extending longitudinally on one face thereof, an electrical resistance element in said grooves, a plurality of supports carried by the bars and projecting through said openings into the in-y terior of the rellector, the projecting portions of said supports having hook-like terminals, and a resistance heating element supported by said hook-like terminals.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

